Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Small ski areas easy on wallet

By Brian Metzler, Special to the Rocky

Published January 5, 2009 at 6 p.m.

Text size  
Nicole Neumayr, 13, of Westminster, begins her day at Eldora Ski Resort, a smaller operation that offers good deals.

Photo by Brian Lehmann / The Rocky

Nicole Neumayr, 13, of Westminster, begins her day at Eldora Ski Resort, a smaller operation that offers good deals.

More Health & Fitness

More stories »

Jim and Susan Watkins both grew up skiing in Colorado, so naturally, they've wanted to give their kids the same opportunity.

This winter, though, the Denver couple admits the economic pinch hit close to home, forcing them to scrutinize every dollar spent. They opted not to buy season passes at Winter Park last fall or any of the "four-pack" deals offered at resorts. Instead, they hoped to get a handful of days on the slopes by looking for discounts, deals and snow.

That's why the members of the family of four - Jim, Susan, Max, 8, and Sally, 6 - were riding the Piney Basin chairlift at Ski Cooper, a small resort on Tennessee Pass near Leadville, during the holiday break. Skiing under bright sun and a touch of new snow, the Watkinses were enjoying their second day at their newfound "discovery," especially given how little they had to pay for the getaway.

Ski Cooper offers the lowest single-day prices of any resort in the state, $42 for adults and $23 for children younger than 15. It's one of the smallest resorts in the state, but with more than 20 trails laid out over 400 acres, it's more than enough for a family with young kids.

"We've lived in Colorado all our lives and never skied here before," Susan Watkins said. "But this is perfect for us, especially this year."

With what it costs to spend a weekend on the slopes at many Colorado resorts, skiing and snowboarding might as well be the sports of kings. If you tally the price of a two-day lift ticket, along with two nights of lodging and meals at just about any of the state's mega-sized resorts, it's easy to spend $450 per person or much more.

But with two-day lift tickets at Ski Cooper ($74 for adults, $42 for the kids), sack lunches and a discount hotel room in Leadville, the Watkinses were able to spend the same amount on the entire family for the weekend.

"The kids love it, we love it and we can ski here for less than half what it could cost to ski at Winter Park or Copper or Breckenridge," Jim Watkins said. "It's not a big place, but for now that's just fine. There's more than enough skiing for all of us. And it's the same snow that falls everywhere else in Colorado, and there are no lift lines."

Buying a season pass, booking stay-and-ski packages and seeking out other deals can cut the overall cost of skiing in Colorado. But if you only ski a handful of days every winter, the best way to lessen the blow to your pocketbook is to ski Colorado's small and mid-size resorts.

You might miss some of Colorado's landmark features: the back bowls at Vail, the bumps at Mary Jane and the fluffy soft powder at Steamboat, for example. Most of the smaller resorts don't have slopeside lodging, nor do they have many high-speed detachable quad lifts.

But if you venture off the beaten path, you'll avoid paying for parking, walking through tourist-oriented base villages to get to the slopes, coughing up $14 for a lunch special and waiting in long lift lines.

Aside from finding everything more affordable, you'll likely find great snow, challenging terrain and quaint towns. Here's a quick overview on things you'll discover at some of Colorado's smaller, less- glamorous resorts.

* Gobs of snow: With respects to Steamboat, the best place to consistently find a lot of snow is Wolf Creek (465 inches annually) or Silverton Mountain (400 inches). Other spots that get a lot of snow: Loveland, Monarch Mountain and Arapahoe Basin.

* Easy access: If you live on the Front Range, it means you spend a lot of time in the car heading to your destination of choice and then taking a shuttle bus (or at the very least a long walk) to the slopes. Unless, of course, you spend a day at Eldora (20 miles west of Boulder), Echo Mountain (30 miles west of Denver) or Loveland (50 miles west of Denver). You can tire yourself out in a few hours and be back home (or at work) before anyone knew you were gone.

* Top-shelf terrain: With essentially 1,600 acres of lift-served backcountry terrain, Silverton Mountain offers the most raw and challenging ski experience in the state. For $119 to $129 per day, you get expert guides, crazy amounts of powder and all of the ruggedness of the San Juan Mountains. The chutes at Wolf Creek's Knife Ridge offer dozens of different double-black diamond lines. At Arapahoe Basin, the East Wall is only for experts or the certifiably insane, while Pallavincini is still one of the longest, steepest, most challenging runs in the country.

* Family fun: If you equate family fun with things like a low-key atmosphere, affordable prices, a reliable ski school, hassle-free rentals, nearby lodging deals and a variety of terrain in a quaint area, then Ski Cooper, Sunlight and Monarch might be right up your alley. The affordable Monarch Lodge is 10 minutes from the base of Monarch's slopes and has an indoor pool, hot tub and on-site restaurant.

* Uncommon experiences: Although not inexpensive at $180 to $325 per person, the snowcat skiing and snowboarding offer at Monarch and Ski Cooper's Chicago Ridge serves up some of the best powder terrain in the state. At each resort, groups of 12 people will usually make 10 to 15 runs of 900 to 1,500 vertical feet, resting briefly in a plush, heated snowcat in between runs.

* Cool events: Loveland has a monthly digital photo contest with prizes going out to the best photos in categories of action, people and nature. Eldora's Nighthawks program is a nighttime race series for snowshoers and Nordic skiers. This winter, Sunlight, Monarch, Loveland and A-Basin are hosting races in the Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup (ussma.org/races/cosmic).

* Other surprises: If you haven't skied all of Colorado's smaller ski areas, here are a few things you might find surprising: The tree skiing at Powderhorn is some of the best in the state; the Moose Glades and West Ridge terrain along Eldora's western border offer up big-mountain thrills; the longest run at Sunlight (Ute Trail) is 2.5 miles long; Echo Mountain is opening new glade skiing in January; Silverton Mountain allows groups to book the entire mountain for special events; and The Springs Resort and Spa in Pagosa Springs (near Wolf Creek; pagosahotsprings.com) offers 16 hot springs pools ranging from 83 to 114 degrees.

Bargain hunting

A weekend of skiing and snowboarding doesn't have to cost as much as your monthly rent or mortgage payment. Several small and medium-size Colorado resorts offer value-priced lift tickets and lodging packages. For more savings, deals and even free lift tickets, get a $10 Colorado Gems Card from Colorado Ski Country USA (coloradoski.com/Resorts/Gems/GemsCard).

Arapahoe Basin, Loveland Pass

* Terrain: 900 acres

* Adult single day: $65 (includes a free child lift ticket)

* Child single day: $28-$52

* Good deal: $98 adult two-day ticket (second day may be used any time during the 2008-09 season)

* Info: arapahoebasin.com

Echo Mountain, Evergreen

* Terrain: 85 acres

* Adult single day: $43

* Child single day: $24

* Good deal: Afternoon/ evening tickets (good from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.) cost $29.

* Info: echomtnpark.com

Eldora Mountain Resort, Nederland

* Terrain: 680 acres

* Adult single day: $62

* Child single day: $37

* Good deal: $99 First-Timers Package (includes four-hour group lesson, rental equipment and limited- access lift ticket)

* Info: eldora.com

Loveland, Loveland Pass

* Terrain: 1,365 acres

* Adult single day: $56

* Child single day: $25

* Good deal: $48 full-day adult lift tickets at Front Range grocery stores and ski and snowboard shops

* Info: skiloveland.com

Monarch Mountain, Monarch Pass

* Terrain: 800 acres

* Adult single day: $54

* Child single day: $20-$32

* Good deal: $44 full-day adult lift tickets available online at skimonarch.com

* Info: skimonarch.com

Powderhorn Resort, Mesa

* Terrain: 1,600 acres

* Adult single day: $53

* Child single day: $43

* Good deal: A $50 Plus Card provides a $7 discount on lift tickets, a free ticket for every four purchased, and an entire week of free skiing or snowboarding (Feb. 23-March 1).

* Info: powderhorn.com

Ski Cooper, Leadville

* Terrain: 400 acres

* Adult single day: $42

* Child single day: $23

* Good deal: Children's full-day lift ticket is $23.

* Info: skicooper.com

SolVista Basin, Granby

* Terrain: 406 acres

* Adult single day: $54

* Child single day: $32

* Good deal: All-day children's ski lessons (including lift ticket, lunch and rentals) cost $90.

* Info: solvista.com

Sunlight Mountain Resort, Glenwood Springs

* Terrain: 470 acres

* Adult single day: $50

* Child single day: $40

* Good deal: A ski/ swim/stay package begins at $89 per person.

* Info: sunlightmtn.com

Wolf Creek, Pagosa Springs

* Terrain: 1,600 acres

* Adult single day: $52

* Child single day: $28

* Good deal: Wolf Creek has a free car-pool service online this year, allowing skiers and snowboarders to connect from various towns to share the drive.

* Info: wolfcreekski.com